Settling Down
by Missing File
Summary: Five years ago, Bill left his hometown looking for a place where he'd belong Now after many times of dodging the issue, he decided to open up and reveal his past to his friends Meanwhile, a childhood friend has returned and is determinated to find him Short story featuring two oc's of mine and a couple of friend's ocs
1. 1 - A Heartul Bro Talk

_The first Chapter of the story!_

 _Originally posted on google drive and readed by my discord pals, they kinda convinced me to publish it here and Tumblr_

 _Reviews comments and other stuff is welcome n_n_

 _PD: Skip the Fennec belongs to Dr Stephen_

 _Bill and Tina belong to me_

...

 **1 - A heartful bro talk**

The sky outside was darkening as a dark-haired fox was sitting in a table besides the windows. The place was looking fancy, even too much for for a simple coffee shop but Bill somehow liked it. Maybe it was because of the lights not being really bright. Or maybe because of the chill music playing in the background. He knew, as a cool guy, that he'd be supposed to like other kind of stuff, but he still felt incredibly at home in the tranquil coffee shop

The muffled sound of a door opening distracted him as the Fennec he was waiting for entered

"Sorry for the wait, I kinda had a busy day" said the fennec. His fur was red with black stripes in the head and tail. He wasn't tall but neither short and had a skinny build. Besides from gloves and shoes, he didn't wear other clothes, like most of the male mobians

"It's okay, I already know" answered the fox with a smug look. His fur was light orange with white segments. He had abundant black hair and his bangs almost entirely covered his left eye. He was a bit taller than the fennec and also slim, but you couldn't notice that as he was wearing a cyan baggy hoodie and black jeans

"What? How did you-?" asked the surprised fennec

"Let's say an angery lil' bird told me about it" Bill quickly answered

"Friggin' Jana… Wait a minute I thought you hated each other's guts"

"Skip please, we don't hate each other" calmly said Bill. "She's just violently trying to eliminate her competition" he added with a chuckle

"Are we already starting the gay jokes?" wondered Skip with a slight tone of annoyance

"Nah, I know my crush is only one-sided" the fox answered with a faked sad tone. "Sooooo… how did you date with that gal go?" the fox added, quickly pointing to the reason he invited his bro

"Well, it was the greatest day ever" Skip answered with a wide smile

...

"I guess I'll have to stop with the gay jokes" said Bill with a happy face after hearing Skip's detailed evening with Sonar

"Yup. Sorry for breaking your heart" said Skip with a smug face

"It's not like my heart belongs to another person, you idiot" quickly answered Bill

"Yeah right"

"No, really" answered the orange fox with no trace of his usual jokingly mood. "It's a long story, from before I moved here"

"Wait, really? No more jokes or teasing comments?" asked Skip, still not believing it

"Shut up, and hear me, dumbass!". Bill answered with annoyance. "So… how much of my past do you know?"

"Not much" answered Skip. "You said you come from far and that you left for the sake of leaving. You were also supposed to have a temporary stay here, but it seems you have settled down" he added

"Well. I didn't have a place in my town. Like there was only a thing rooting me there but it left and I quickly did after" explained Bill

"And what was keeping you there, then?"

"The most precious person in the world" said Bill while looking for something in his wallet. "Here" he added with a slight blush as he took out an old pic from the wallet and placed in the table. Skip looked at it with curiosity.

It was a fox carrying a rabbit in his back during cold night. The fox looked like Bill but his hair was longer and almost reached his shoulder. His bangs were longer and extended down to his muzzle, covering entirely his left eye. His eyes were grey instead of green and hid behind some thick glasses. He smiled while his cheeks slightly blushed. The rabbit he was carrying in his back also smiled but had a full-blown blush in her face. Her fur had a cream-like color and her reddish hair fell down until her hips, covering the sides of her face. She had honey-like eyes and also weared thick glasses

"Pretty cute… also is she wearing your hoodie?" commented Skip looking at the pic

"Yes and No. That's the original hoodie. The one I wear everyday is second one I bought, to remember her" Bill explained

"OH MY GOD THAT'S SO CUUUUUTEE-" Skip screamed until Bill kicked his shin under the table

"No need, to do that, you dick!" Skip nagged with a pained expresion

"Shut up. We were just friends" Bill added with annoyance

"Yeah right, you totally look like those couples in anime"

"Maybe because we both were huge weebs? And we weren't dating, we just hanged out together" quickly said Bill. "We… we only had each other in that shitty place" he quietly said after a pause

"I thought you were popular. Everyone here likes you and you're the coolest guy around" answered Skip. He was still puzzled as it was the first time Bill openly talked about his past

"Nah. I don't know why people here like, but back there, I didn't have much friends. Mainly just Tina" he explained "We were friends since school and grew together. We were also quite antisocial so whenever there was a party and we were forced to attend we just waited until the other showed up and then leave to watch anime at her place"

"Sounds like you were a close couple" commented Skip

"We were not a couple" dismissed Bill with quickness. "I'm not worthy of being with someone as great as her"

"You're worthy of dating anyone you fucking want, bro!" snapped Skip. His bro wasn't like this normally and he was getting worried

"Anyways. She got an invitation for a prestigious college in the North. You know those cold wood-surrounded towns?"

"Yeah, that's really far away… and she accepted?"

"Yeah. She had a really promising future. But she had her doubts, so I convinced her to leave". Bill looked troubled. All traces of his normal joke mood were gone and in his place there was a melancholic fox that somehow managed to look like him

"And she just left like that?" Skip asked looking at hks friend. Dude could totally use a hug right now

"Nope. We went out for an entire day. Spent out our last day in a park and talked a lot about it. In the end she was still unsure." Bill expresion suddenly changed from troubled to annoyed. "But the idiot HAD to do it"

"What did she do?" said Skip looking at him intensely. His bro has never been this open before and he was looking at his pal's inner feels, those that he hides behind jokes and "cool" attitude

"S-she… she kissed me" he finally let out. "That idiot kissed me and I started wanting her to stay. I didn't want her to leave" he finally exploded as tears came out of his eyes

"But you told her to leave anyways…"

"I had to do it. It was her future. My feelings don't matter at all"

"Bro, don't say that" Skip said worried. And then he went to Bill's side to hug him

"Anyways… Sorry for the drama. I just wanted to hear about your date" he said calming down

...

Somewhere else, in a far away cabin in the edge of a forest a rabbit girl was lying in a bed. In her room there was a pic of a fox carrying a rabbit. The rabbit in the bed had shorter hair with bangs that covered the upper said of her left eyes. She took her glasses off and put them in the same table were the pic was. Her honey eyes were shining due to a lil' tear

"You're really stubborn dude" she said firmly to the fox in the pic. Then she looked at the packed bag in the room's floor

"Yeah. That's the first fucking thing I'm gonna say to him" she thought as she hugged a cyan baggy hoodie that was obviously not her size


	2. 2 - Her missing piece

_So... last chapter had Skip and Bill drinking some coffee as the later talked about his dearest person in the entire world._

 _And now, the plot starts moving!_

 _Reviews, comments and suggestions are welcome as always, don't be shy please!_

...

 **Chapter 2: Her missing piece**

Snow was falling as always did in that town. It piled on the cabin and the surroundings but the rabbit inside didn't care much. She was lying in a bed, her honey-like eyes half open and her reddish hair all messed as she had been sleeping for a while

Besides the bed and the rabbit on it, there wasn't much more as the decorations that covered the wooden walls had been put into travel bag. The only noticeable thing was a framed picture, with a fox carrying a rabbit in his back.

"That's the first time he smiled that much" thought the rabbit in loud voice "I wonder how is he going… would he be smiling?" wondered before giggling "Yeah right as if Moody Billy would laugh or anything. Anyways, don't fear Edgy Boi, your Giggly Tina on the way!" she said as she raised from her bed to finish the luggage

An hour later everything was ready. Tina was in the bathroom finishing her looks. Her -now styled- hair reached until her neck, covering the sides of her head while her bangs reached until the upper side of her eye

"To think that back then he was the one with the bangs… I do look good though"

She put on her thick glasses and looked at the mirror. Smiled a bit as she found herself looking adorable. The hoodie she was wearing may have been one or two sizes too big but she felt incredibly comfortable in it so she didn't care

"I guess it's a goodbye, right?" she thought as she looked at the cabin she called home for 5 years. The wooden walls looked empty as every decoration and picture she had set up was in her travel bag. She smiled as she knew that it was a new stage in her life

The trip to the train station was quick. The snowfall had weakened out making everything look like those movies. She booked her ticket and quickly took a seat the moment the train arrived

"I've been out for 5 years… a lot of stuff has changed, for sure. I mean, now I had a ton of knowledge I didn't have back then. I've matured… but still I feel like I've been lacking something" she thought as she looked through the window. It wasn't really hard to find what had she been missing. Back when she was a lil' kid, she had a friend that had always remained by her side. Well, until she left as he wasn't qualified to enter in the same college she got called to

"Oh Billy, I've really missed you a lot, you know?" she tought as the memories of her adventures with his friend came back to her mind. Like that time they ditched the graduation party and went to the forest to stargaze. Or that time some thugs tried to assault them and he drove them off. But the one that really left a mark on her was their farewell, 5 years ago

...

It was summer in their hometown and the heat was awful but despite feeling heavy and tired, they met up anyways

"So wanna ride the Roller Coaster?" Bill asked quickly. It wasn't the first time they went together to that park, but this time felt… special

"Of course dude!" Tina answered. She was also feeling anxious as this was gonna be their last day together

There wasn't much of a row and they managed to enter the game quickly

"Things are going good today. I mean we normally have to wait like half an hour to enter" he pointed out, trying to start a talk

"Yeah… I hope we'll get in in every ride" she automatically answered

A lil' minutes later they were already off, stretching their limbs after the wild ride

"Wanna see our pics?" Bill said in an out of character cheerfully voice. The fox and the rabbit rushed out to the picture stand. Their pic appeared quickly showing how exciting that ride was

"What a lovely couple" commented an employee looking at the pic. Bill and Tina blushed a bit but tried to hide it

"We are just friends, but thanks for the compliment" he said as he paid for it

The day went on as they were going from game to game. Tina beat the shit out of Bill in the bumper cars and his pride was obviously damaged. Pride that was recovered in the Bowling lines as he won by merely 10 points

But then Tina defeated him once again in the Dancing games. He didn't get offended as he had always been a bad dancer. Things got even when he won in the basket game and so, they decide to settle the score with their favourite game: Air Hockey

"Ready to get your booty kicked?" she defied him from across the table

"Yeah right, your pretty butt is the one getting kicked!" he answered

"My my, I did have the suspicion you had been checking me out" she answered with a smug face, while casually shooting the first disc

"Wait wha-" he surprisedly exclaimed. He was too flustered to see the disc and the first point of the game went for Tina.

"That's cheating, you know?!" he complained angrily

"It's all fair in war, you know?" she answered with a grin

The game got intense. Their arms moved quickly from side to side making the disc go out flying in the opposite direction

And finally with loud hit sound, the disc flew out of the table

"Whoa, that was intense" Bill said with a confident happy look

"Yeah. This kind of things is why I love hanging out with you, dude" Tina answered with a smile

"Now, should we go somewhere else before an employee starts asking questions?" the fox suggested

"If somebody ask we never played Air Hockey" she winked as she took Bill by his arm

And then came the moment she was waiting for.

"Dude… are you still sure about me going out for studying? I still have my doubts and…" she said with sadness. She wasn't willing to leave

"Tina, please. It's your future. You're gonna do great stuff. You'll be going places. This is a chance you can't reject" the fox answered with a serious tone

"But that means you'll be alone, for years!". Tina sounded worried. She knew Bill only had her and if she left he would be completely alone. If something happened to him while she was away, she wouldn't forgive herself

"I don't want you to give up your future for me" he insisted. He always knew Tina was meant to be important. That kind of people that could eventually change the world, people that was useful to progress people unlike himself that was just a simple plain dude

"But still…"

"Look. You're a great person. And you have amazing skills. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine" Bill smiled. Or tried to. He wasn't used to smile and usually was a stoic person. Tina quickly saw through his attempt

"Okay" she said with a tone of defeat in her voice. He was too stubborn

Bill saw her face and recognized her look. She was gonna cry. She only cried like 5 times in the whole time they have known each other. He could feel his heart hurt as she fighted to contain her tears. She came closer to him and he quickly hugged her. He didn't want her to leave but he knew he had to let her go. She raised her head and they looked at each other's eyes. Bill's grey eyes looked sad. Tina could see his real feelings there. And then she moved her head closer to his. And had their first kiss

Bill cried. Why? Why did she do it? Why was she like that? He couldn't keep his feelings hidden anymore

...

Tina looked at sky from the train's window. 5 years have passed since her first kiss. She hadn't kissed any other person yet. A variety of guys -and even gals- had tried to conquer her heart. But she was still fixated on Bill. She left a part of herself back there. And she hold a part of his too. And she was positive, this time nothing would be between her and the dude she loved

Not much later, she arrived at his old place.

"Dude, I'm home!" she cheerily shouted as she entered the house. But her cheerful mood quickly fade away as she realised the house was abandoned. He wasn't there anymore.

And nobody even bothered to ask him where he went to


	3. 3 - Coffee and Chill

_Third Chapter!_

 _Woohoo!. I gotta admit I was kinda insecure about this whole writing thing at first, but I'm getting a lil' more confident with every chapter!._

 _I totally wanna thank my bro Steph for sharing this fic in his tumblr!._

 _So in the previous chapter, Tina remembered her ...first date? with Bill while returning home after 5 years, just to find out that her friend had left without a clue!._

 _Bill, Tina and Frankie belong to me and Skip and Kouyou belong to Dr Stephen._

...

 **Chapter 3: Coffe and Chill**

"So, you really left without telling anyone?" asked a blue wolf with an incredulous tone. He had wavy blue hair and his bangs leaned on the side while his back hair extended down to his shoulders. His yellow eyes had a bored look as he clearly wasn't really interested in hearing the story but well, a friend is a friend, despite the fact you may not always tolerate them. At least, Bill had an interesting chill music collection so he could always check it up while pretending to care.

Kouyou, the wolf, wasn't the only one at Bill's house that evening. Sitting in the sofa was Skip, who proposed to meet up in the first place and in the kitchen was Bill, preparing some coffee

"Yeah. Nobody cared about me back then so when she left I really didn't have a reason to remain there" Bill answered as he entered the living room with a tray and some cups in his hands

"I really can't believe you didn't have other friends, bro, you're like super cool" Skip said. He totally didn't buy the story. A dude doesn't just leave without notice, and Bill had to have at least another friend there. Maybe something happened back then and he didn't want to talk it, but he was sure Bill wasn't revealing everything.

"Well, I could say I had other... acquaintances" the orange fox answered with a mysterious tone. "But really, that was like ages ago so it's not really important" he quickly added. Skip looked at him with curiosity. He knew he opened a door in his bro when the later told him about Tina and now he wasn't going to pretend Bill didn't have an issue with his past

"So... tell me about your other pals, dude, I totally wanna know how you were back then!" Skip said enthusiastic. Kouyou took his eyes off from the music collection to give the fennec a look of warning. He shouldn't pressure Bill into talking

"Well, I wasn't really a big deal back then. Like, I was a lil' more anxious and bitter and I gotta admit, I didn't smile if Tina wasn't messing around" he explained. "And about my "pals", I used to hang around with Frankie. He was a really nice dude but also had a gf that drained all his time. He was too busy being Mr Perfect Boyfriend to even notice how I was doing"

Kouyou didn't say anything as he kept checking the collection. He could understand how Bill felt. Sometimes friends get too involved in new relationships or stuff and they leave you aside. But still, leaving with no notice? It was a little... extreme.

Skip also remained silent as he felt a lil' bad. He thought about his new "advances" with Sonar and mentally promised he wasn't going to leave his friends aside.

Bill left the tray in a small table and gave the drinks to his friends. Hot chocolate for Skip, Coffee and milk for himself and Latte for Kouyou. The wolf swiftly turned around and took his cup tasting the drink with a serious look like he was a food critic or something like that.

"So I realized. I had nothing back there. I could go travelling the world, meet new places, find somewhere where I'd belong... and so I did. I travelled for 4 years.." Bill continued.

"...and then you decided to stay here, a year ago" Skip finished with a smile. He couldn't get why, but he knew his friend may have actually found the place he was looking for. And that made him really happy.

...

Somewhere else, a redhead rabbit was knocking on the door of a beautiful wooden house. It was pretty big and had ample doors and windows. In the side of the house there was small gallery and some benchs

The frontyard was really ample and it contained a wooden slide and some hammocks. Tina remembered the countless times she, Bill and the others had played there, back when they were little kids.

The door opened and a tall, fit cat appeared. He had orange eyes and long silver hair, pulled back by a sports headband. His white fur was kinda fuzzy, making the dude look not only handsome but also cute.

"Hello? What can I do for y-? OH MY GOD, TINA?!" he suddenly raised his voice as he quickly hugged the rabbit "It's been years!"


	4. 4 - A Journey starts with a small step

_Yay, finally Chapter 4!_

 _I'm really really sorry for the lil' delay, I had some stuff going out but hey, at least the wait is over!_

 _Anyways, previous chapter had Bill, Skip and Kouyou having coffee together at Bill's place while trying to dig a lil'more into Bill's past, while Tina went to another friend's place in order to start tracking Bill_.

 _Nox belongs to Odako; Skip, Jana and Kouyou to Dr. Stephen; Bill, Tina and Frankie to me._

 **Chapter 4: A journey starts with a small step**

It was a sunny summer day, and the bright rays of sunlight were warming up. The wind blowed slightly creating one of those days that really really can't feel better.

But Tina couldn't feel really well. When she came back, she expected to surprise her childhood best friend, hug him and finally open up about the mutual feelings they had been bottling up... but the house was abandoned, there was no clue of what happened to him or where was him now. And now, an anxious Tina was in the front door of Bill's other friend, with him still not being able to process that Tina was finally back.

"OH MY GOD TINA! It has been years!" said Frankie with joy. He was a tall white cat with silverish hair. His orange eyes were shining with emotion and he had to supress the impulse of hugging her

"Yeah, it's been ages!" Tina replied, her voice had a lil' shake of akwardness. It's not that she didn't like the dude, but she had been waiting all this time to meet Bill, not his sporty cute-looking friend. But she didn't expect Bill to disappear in the first place...

"Hey don't stay there, come in" Frankie invited. The rabbit stepped in the house and took a quick view. The woody interiors still looked like 5 years ago. The door opened to a wide living room where a couple of comfy armchairs and coffee table were waiting for visits to use them. Behind the bigger sofa, an old-looking fireplace was holding some chunks of wooden. A big carpet and some pictures adorned the room

The tall cat went to the kitchen and started the water boiler, the coffee would be ready in a couple of minutes

"So, what brings you here? Last time I heard about you, you were far away studying" he asked going to the point. He also had another couple of questions to do, but he wanted her not to rush

"Well, I'm happy to announce my studies are over!" she said with a tone of fake smug.

"So you've oficially gotten the title of Unstoppable Smartass" chuckled the cat as he looked at her. She had changed a lot since back then, her glasses gave her a refined look and she had changed her tomboyish clothes for new girlier ones. On the other hand, her hair was shorter and now she sported a couple of bangs, not too different to the ones Bill had... Bill. He still felt guilty about that. The memories of their last argument returned to his mind.

"Yeah" she replied with a smile. Frankie looked at her again, remembering how different she was. Back then she used to wear baggy clothes and looked rather plain. But now she had a "cuter" look and judging by that hoodie she was wearing, probably had a boyfriend. But something about that hoodie made him think... It's like he had seen it before.

"Anyways, there's something I need to ask you, dude" Tina said looking at him

"You know, I've returned yesterday and I went to Bill's place. It looked rather abandoned..." she added.

"Yeah... Bill left shortly after you, around 15 days later" he said as he went for the coffee.

"But why? Did he tell you? Is he really that..."

"...desperate? .. impulsive? Yeah". Frankie sounded sad. He knew he had fucked up in the past and that he may have had a hand in Bill's choices. The cat took the coffee and gave a cup for the rabbit. Black for her, with milk for him.

"Do you have any idea of where did he go?" Tina asked with worry. She had no idea where her friend was. He could be anywhere, in the south, in the north, in a close town or in the other side of the world... and if something had happened to him, she wouldn't know... what if something had already happened? Tina's mind went overdrive as her thoughts conflicted about if Bill could be doing well or not...

"It's kinda my fault..." Frankie said with regret. Tina raised her gaze and looked at him. The cat felt how the rabbit's honey-like eyes scanned every corner of his face

"No... don't blame yourself" Tina answered trying to keep her cool. "Please tell me, what happened?" she added with anxiety

"Well, you remember Katie right?" Frankie started

"Yeah, she didn't like Bill. Or me. Kinda bitchy now that I think about it" Tina answered

"Well, not much before you left we argued. It was mainly due to hanging around with you guys" the cat let out. He looked sad. He knew he fucked up back then and he felt responsible for giving Bill the push he needed to leave.

"So the bitch told you the push us away so she could have more time with you?. I mean I remember you saying you were very busy with your training and stuff, but judging your look I can tell you were lying back then" Tina continued as she starting analizing the situation. And then an idea came to her mind. "Bill found out?"

"Yeah, two days after you left. He was already doing bad. Like I could feel how "losing you" affected him. And we he came to me try to vent out, he discovered I was lying and hanging around with her" Frankie explained. The moment came back to his mind and he bited his lip. He could have intervened back then but he just limited to watch as his -then- girlfriend and his -then- best friend screamed at each other, fighting for his attention. "And then, she screamed that I was the biggest liar and said the only reason I hanged out with Bill was pity".

Tina's glaze trembled. She already had a bad relation with Frankie's ex but now, she felt furious. Her eyes shined with anger as her gaze stabbed Frankie's face

"Did you reply?. Did you just let that bitch say that to his face?!" she asked with a frightening tone

"Ye-" he tried to answer, but his face got slammed by the quickest slap of the country. Her eyes looked sharp at him, like expecting another answer. Answer that she knew he didn't have. Otherwise, Bill would probably be still hanging around. Frankie looked at her again. His face still showed sadness but also a small smile. "He left three days after that. He just packed some clothes, camping kit and rode his bike out of town. But he left his computer at his place..."

Tina's face enlightened as a wide smile appeared in her face. "And he always posted stuff in his blog! We may have a clue of where the fuck did he go!"

...

The light of the evening started to fade as Frankie and Tina started up Bill's old computer. The abandoned room was covered in dust, but Bill had taken care of tidying it up before leaving, so things were carefully organized besides the whole dusty thing. A collection of Mangas and Comics was resting in a shelf along with a a couple of anime DVD's. In the opossite side if the room a bookcase contained Bill's collection of Sci-Fi novels and a couple of CD's loaded with chill and electro music.

The screen flickered as the system finished starting up. The desktop showed a pic of a cheerful, smiling Tina. A small tear formed in the redhead's eye as she looked at the screen. Frankie quickly opened the web browser and Bill's blog appeared on the bookmarks.

It took only a couple of seconds for the page to load. Tina and Frank looked at the screen with expectation as they readed the last post.

It didn't have much text on it, but instead it showed a pic of a very happily Bill, hugging some unknown people. A cute looking red fennec, an annoyed blue wolf, an angery brown fox, a gorgeous blonde rabbit and purple cat with a devious smile were looking at the camera

"HOLY SHIT IS THAT NOX?" Tina screamed with emotion

"Who?" asked Frankie with no idea of what was Tina talking about out

"Noximilien Times, leader of the moebian band, "The Time Out Quartet"" Tina responded with excitement. "I have heard a lot of their music back in college, and I gotta admit the vocalist is so cute!"

"Moebian? like from Moebius?" Frankie kept going on without being able to understand. "How did you come across music from other zone?"

"You can find a lot of stuff in the internet if you know were to look" Tina answered with a smug tone

"So our dude ran away to another dimension?" wondered the cat with a defeated tone

"Nah, Nox is a zone traveller, she must had been here when this pic was taken. His birthday was a couple of months ago and there's snow in the pic..." the rabbit said before getting interrumpted by the cat.

"You do know there's no snow here at all, right? He must have travelled a lot... How far away can you go on a pedal bike in 5 years?"

"I have no idea, but I think I can track him. We gotta make him log in to the blog again..." Tina wondered

"...and check the session history to track his device? It could totally work!" finished Frankie.

...

The cat and the rabbit looked at the web browser as a pic uploaded to Bill's blog. Not much later, a phone far far away blinked as a notification popped up.


	5. 5 - First Contact

_Chapter 5 already!_

 _I'm pretty happy 'cuz I was pretty afraid of running out of ideas but welp here we are!_.

 _T_ _he last chapter had Tina meeting with Frankie, an old friend and_ _the two plotted a plan to track Bill down._

...

 **Chapter 5 -** **First Contact**

The sun went down quickly as the winter's cold converted rain into snow. Inside of a cabin, a red fennec and a yellow fox started a bonfire as it was their only source of heat. The fennec looked a bit worried as he felt that even fully clothed he wouldn't be able to endure the chill. His friend chuckled as he was totally comfortable with just a hoodie.

"Dude who would believe weather would have been this bad?" - exclaimed Skip, the fennec.

"Aren't you overreacting? My hometown is much more warmer and I'm having no problems with this weather" - Bill, the fox answered with a chuckle.

"Because you love snow too much. You aren't used to it so you have so much fun you don't care about the cold" - tried to explain the fennec. The fox let out a loud laug as his only answer.

"Stop being a pussy, in a moment this bonfire will keep us warm" - the fox said before leaving the room.

The night was coming and he needed to cook if he wanted to have dinner. He would ask his bro for help, but Skip wouldn't be ablo to cook something edible even if his life depended on that. The fennec sat closer to the fire and rubbed his hands, as he was still feeling cold

And then his phone rang.

Skip let out a small curse word as he took out his phone as his hands were still a lil' numb and slow. He swiped the screen and saw a notification, it seemed Bill had updated his blog after months. He stared at the screen, Bill wouldn't be able to post something as he was visibly busy cutting off potatoes. And he also haven't posted anything in months! The last time he remembered Bill posting something was a year ago in his first birthday in this place. He still remembered that day...

...

Snow had been falling down for the entire week and it covered the streets. Bill's cabin looked small, surrounded by snow and completely covered in it. The snow had piled knee-high as a lonely Bill tried to take it off while wearing his signature hoodie, some gloves and a scarf.

He didn't look too happy. The firsts days he rejoiced when the snow kept falling as he wasn't really used to it and found it quite funny. But then the snow kept falling and now our troubled fox had to dig it out before his door would get blocked by it.

"Hey! Need any help?" - a kind voice called. Bill turned around and saw a red fennec. He was skinny and a lil' shorter than him, had spiky hair with black markings in the ends and his eyes had green irises. Bill quickly recognised him as Skip, the first dude he talked to in this town. Then again, he had been here barely two weeks so he hasn't meet much people. Bill looked him with the corner of his eyes and let out a sigh. He needed help, afterall.

"...sure. I think it's too much snow and I won't be able to do stuff today if I spent the entire day here" - the fox said with a neutral tone. - "Wait a sec, I'll bring another shovel" - he quickly added as he entered the house. Skip looked at the fox. He could notice how Bill's words heard a little off. He didn't know him much yet but he could tell Bill felt a lil' akward around him. On the other side, Bill hasn't been around for much time and maybe he was just shy.

Bill suddenly appeared and gave him the shovel. The boys looked at each other and quickly started shoveling the snow away

"So, you said you had stuff to do later?" - asked Skip, trying to start a conversation. Bill looked at him like trying to evaluate if he should answer or not, before answering with a laconic "Yes"

"What kind of stuff?" - the fennec insisted, with the feel that the fox would eventually lash out at him. Bill looked at him again - "Not much. I wanted to make some pizza and desserts, to celebrate my birthday".

"It's your birthday? Today? Congrats dude!" - excaimed Skip with joy - "Are you having visits?"

"Not really. I'm alone here and I don't think someone actually cares to do anything" - Bill answered with a neutral tone. Even himself really didn't care too much about. Skip felt sad for him and an idea came to his mind.

"So, want to come to my place later on?" the fennec offered, with a smile. Bill looked at him, with a surprised expression. He stuttered a second before accepting.

"Okay, let's meet up at your place. Do you wanna bake some pizzas?" Bill asked. His unamused look was no more and now a slight smile showed up in his face. Skip nodded and then the boys resumed their task.

...

That night, a smiling Bill knocked on Skip's door. The house looked pretty quiet and Bill noticed the lights were turned off. The fox hesitated a bit before knocking the door again. This time, a loud noise was heard as if someone just crashed against something. A moment after, a pained looking Skip opened the door

"F-finally here!" - the fennec welcomed as Bill entered through the door. Bill looked into the room. Silent and dark, he could tell something was off. He tried to say something but Skip quickly closed the door. Now in complete darkness, Bill started to get worried but a quick clic was heared as the lights of the room turned on...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" - a small group of people shouted as Skip gave Bill a hug. The fox was shocked. He knew those people, even if he had talked to them once in the time he had been in the town.

A freckled cat approached him and quickly took the cake he had baked in the evening. - "Thanks for the cake, dude" - she said before cutting a slice and eating it herself. - "Whoa, it's pretty good!" -. Bill just looked at her still not believing what has just happened while Skip just laughed.

Bill and Skip then approached the people and started talking while the fennec introduced them properly. The cat's name was Tama. She didn't talk too much as she was busy with her slice of cake. Bill thought she seemed funny and cool. Along with her there were a fabulous blonde rabbit, named Sola and a purple cat, Nox. Nox smiled as she recognized him. -"Hey, Bike-boy! Long time no see!" - she said as she raised her hand to high five. Bill quickly high fived her and smiled.

"I hope your leg got better!"-.

The cat nodded.-" Yeah, if you hadn't stitched it back then it wouldn't have healed this quickly".

Skip looked at them as he was totally out of the loop. -" Do you know each other?" - he asked with curiosity.

"Yeah, we met each other some months ago, I guess it'd be a nice story to tell someday"- answered Bill with a smile. Nox chuckled and took a slice of cake.

"I hope you'll have fun tonight, Skip made a huge effort to prepare this party with so little anticipation. He's such a sweetheart" - commented Sola.

"Yeah dude, he was in a hurry. I gotta admit I was totally in when he said there was gonna be cake. Nice cooking, by the way" - Tama quickly added swallowing the last of her slice of cake. Bill looked at her trying not to chuckle as he didn't want to be rude.

"Don't worry dude, I have no standards" - the freckled cat added as she took another slice of cake.

"Dude, come here I want you to meet these guys!" Skip suddenly said as he took Bill with him. Bill saw a brown female fox and a blue wolf. The girl looked a lil' bothered as if she didn't really want to be there. The wolf, in the other hand did look bored but he seemed to be okay with it.

"These are Jana and Kouyou. The best dudes ever!" Skip said with entusiasm. Kouyou smiled nervously as he felt flattered but didn't know how to express it. Jana instead looked at him. -"It's not like your special to us or something"

"Welp, he does think you're special, so I guess you must be awesome" - Bill said. Jana and Kouyou blushed a bit before Skip grabbed them both by the elbows and hugged them

"Guys! Let's take a pic!" - called Nox. Everyone gathered around the table and smiled.

...

"That was a great day" thought Skip as his mind returned to the present. Since then, Bill and him had been really close friends as he stopped being so aloof...

And then he remembered, the notification! The fennec quickly took out his phone and checked the last post. It was a pic of a redhead rabbit and a grey cat. They looked happy looking at the camera. There was also some text along the picture. "Billy, if you see this, call this number!"

The fennec didn't doubt at all as he dialed the number on his phone. -"Bro! You gotta see this!"- The phone's screen changed as the fennec pressed the Call button

"Why so much noise, dude?!"- the fox asked as he didn't get why his friend, in the other room, sounded so excited.

"Just come, NOW!" - Skip insisted. The call conected and somewhere really far away, the fennec's face appeared in a computer's screen.

"And you are...?" - asked the rabbit. Skip quickly recognised her as Tina, Bill's old friend and the person he cared the most for. Besides her there was an anxious looking grey cat.

"Bill's best friend. He's coming right now!" - replied the fennec. Both the cat and the rabbit looks lightened up.

"Dude, why the rush, what's happening?" - asked Bill with a tone of annoyance as he entered the room. The fennec turned around and just showed him the screen

"Long time no see, hun~" - Tina said as she saw Bill's face pop up in the screen.


	6. 6 - Glowing Stars

_First of all, I'm really sorry for the delay. I've been "working" in this chapter since February_ _and even if every week had a couple of words added, I gotta admit I was afraid of it. I think I've been hyping up this moment and now I'm too afraid of not being able to comply with everyone's expectatives. But alas, this story is not going to finish itself and I'm not gonna let it die..._

 _At last! Tina's plan worked and she managed to contact Bill! Though she ended up talking to Skip for a second~_

 _And now, let's see what happens in Episode 6!_

 _Thanks for reading!_

...

 **Chapter 6:** **Glowing Stars**

The moonlight entered trough the window in Bill's old place as Frankie and Tina looked at each other, expectant. The ceiling fan was on, but it wasn't able to properly cool down the room

"Dude I hope this works" - said the redhead rabbit with a tone of doubt in her voice. Back when the idea came to her mind, she didn't stop to think if Bill would actually check his blog. Or if he even had a phone to check it. Or if he was even alive... The last tought send a shiver through her spine. That is not possible she tought. Of course he's gonna call. Any moment...

Frankie looked at her, and worried. He could notice how his friend was getting anxious over time. And he couldn't do anything to ease her mind.

"I'll be back in a minute, I got hungry" - he simply said before leaving the room. Tina nodded and decided to go to the bed. She laid down on it and looked at the ceiling. It was painted in Dark Blue and had some glowing stars stickers on it. She had always loved those even if it looked childish it was adorable, and totally fitted Bill's dorky self. It didn't take too long before the sticker's faint glow made memories flow in her mind...

...

She still couldn't believe it. How things went so fast... one moment they were having fun at the amusement park... and then they made out... and then they cried! The emotional rollercoaster didn't give her time to stop and it made it really hard. She had to say goodbye for now, because the next day she would be taking her train to the cold north, where her college was. But she didn't expect things to go like this at all, she tought she would be in her room, anxiously failing to sleep until her tired body surrendered to exhaustation... but instead she was there, under the blanket looking at the glowing stars in the ceiling as Bill hugged her.

"Why are we like this?" Tina asked with an annoyed tone. She really wasn't a feelings person and the recent developements had wrecked her emotional stability. She had always expressed joy or lack of interest. But love and sadness wasn't really in her usual feelings. She felt confused, she didn't now what to do. Should she talk it out? Or just keep it buried in her heart?

"Like what?" - inquired Bill, trying to look into her eyes. Too bad she had hers fixated in the ceiling and purposely avoiding contact. He had always been slightly annoyed when Tina played the whole "tough girl with no feelings" role and having her doing it in their last moments together made him scream internally. But he knew well he had to keep that in his mind, he didn't want to ruint the moment.

"Like this... I mean... why did we take so much time? We could have been doing this much earlier, but instead we kept playing friends... ugh!" she answered in frustration. She kept staring at the ceiling. It wasn't fair... they could have been dating for months but still... it had to happen now just before she leaves and without being able to enjoy a single day of it. A tear formed in her eye. And her anger grew, it wasn't time for useless crying! She should be hugging Bill back, or kissing him, not pouting and staring into nothingness.

"Hey calm down, we don't have to rush things... but you're right we should have done this before..." - Bill started, looking at the rabbit. She kept staring in the ceiling and the tought of a wall being more responsive than his best friend flashed in the fox's mind, but he decided to keep bitting his lip -"... but there's no use in thinking about what could have been, or even in complaining about what we did, past is past and we can't change it. We can only live the present and plan our future"

"Yeah but my inmediate future is already fixed and it means we won't be seeing each other in 5 years" - Tina answered with a slight tone of anger in her voice. She had been trying to contain it, but it only hurted her more and more. After a deep sigh, she finally turned around and her big honey eyes looked directly to Bill's greys. - "I don't know if I will be able to endure this, dude! I love you, a lot, and I really really want this to work! I want both of us to be happy!" - she finally let out. Small tears formed in her eyes making them bright. The rabbit had finally abandoned her stubborn self and opened her heart. Bill had always tought this would be for good, but seeing her trying not to cry was even worse. He didn't feel angry anymore, but sad, and wanted to hug her super tightly

"Well, we could always be a thing when you comeback..." - Bill answered. Tina's face showed surprise before a slight blush appeared on it. - "And yeah, it will be really hard for us both... but I love you and you love me... and I think that will be strong enough. We have been together since we were childs, I think we can survive, 5 years compared to 15 are nothing! And once you comeback, we will start dating properly"

"Like an official couple... and we could even live together without having to deal with those idiots from school" - tought the rabbit in loud voice. She found it funny how fast her mind went from tragedy to joy the moment Bill mentioned the dating thing. Bill smiled as he noted the relief in his friend's voice.

"We could even move out of town if you want, make a new life somewhere else, just the two of us" - Bill added. Tina smiled with joy and pushed herself closer to Bill, to smooch him. Bill blushed but didn't say anything as an even more red Tina gave him a cute small kiss. She felt so happy, her heart was so full of joy that she tought it was going to explode. The fox kissed her back and hugged her as tight as he could

"So... I guess things are gonna change a lot once we start dating" - Bill said. He didn't mention it but he felt a little nervous. He had never dated before, and he was afraid of not being able to cover Tina's expectatives

"To be honest, I don't know, I mean what should we do?... We already do stuff together and all that" -Tina answered frowning. Bill and her looked at each other as both of them literally didn't know what were they supossed to do when dating, besides the basics of being together and making out.

"HURR DURR WUTS DETIN'?" - Bill interrupted with a silly voice. Tina exploded in laughter

"Snnrk... d-dude w-what was that?"- Tina smiled widely. Her boy might be kind of an idiot, but always managed to make her smile. She hugged him once again and now it was Bill the one looking at the ceiling so Tina couldn't see his insecurity in his gaze.

"If you think about it... we already behave like a couple. I mean we always hang out together, we have fun together, we care about each other... but is that enough? I want it to be special, to make you feel loved, to show you how precious you're to me"

"Thats what the whole romantic stuff is for. That's how you will show me your love, dummy" - Tina responded jokingly. She could feel her heart beating fast, still filled to the brim with joy and love. She cuddled to Bill's side as he turned to her. Once again, the couple gazed into each other's eyes. Their muzzles approached and they shared their longest, cutest and most lovely kiss in their lifes.

...

In the present, an older Tina shed a tear. She was actually happy but the memory of that night brought both joy and sadness. She hoped Bill was doing fine, wherever he was. And she really really hoped for her plan to work. She needed it to work, more than ever.

The door suddenly opened and a smiling white cat entered the room. It was Frankie who was carrying some heavy bags. Tina could see the shapes of bottles and some of her favourite snacks.

"Is that some freaking Lemon Soda?!, GIMME, GIMME NOW!!!" - demanded the redhead rabbit. The cat chuckled as he opened the bag and gave her the bottle. The rabbit unceremoniously drank from the bottle while the cat opened a fried chips bag. The smell of the chips grew in the room and the smiling rabbit left her bottle in the desk. - "Sorry, but you have no idea of how much I missed this! I really needed it!" - the rabbit excused herself, before grabbing the chips

"Yeah, don't worry. I remember Bill telling me Lemon Soda was your favourite drink so I thought I could cheer you up a bit if I bought you some" the cat explained with a smile. Tina smiled, as a way of thanking his friend. Frankie smiled back, feeling a bit better. The whole Tina Bill issue made him anxious. It made him remember his mistake and how he just accepted what happened. Somehow it was better for him to just accept it, instead of trying to fix it, that way he didn't have to deal with his past mistake. But he knew, now that Tina was around, there was no way of staying out of it. Helping Tina in finding him was just the least thing he could.

They kept snacking for some minutes, until a notification popped up in the computer. It was an incoming call!

Tina and Frankie looked at each other. Could it be? Did it work? Really? Frankie quickly shoved the snacks away as full-mouthed Tina swallowed the last snackz. She quicky clicked on the notification and a couple of seconds later, a videocall started

"BRO, YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" - an unknown voice yelled. It belonged to a red fennec with green eyes. He had long fluffy ears and red spiky hair. His red fur was a little messy, making him look a bit goofy. -"COME NOW"- the fennec yelled again

"... and you are?" - Tina asked, trying to remember if she even saw someone like him. Of course she never saw him before, but she still couldn't help thinking he was a good person.

"I'm Bill's friend! Oh there he is, look!" - the fennec anxiously answered before moving his phone. And then the fox appeared. His hair was a bit shorter but it was still a mess. His glasses were gone and were replaced by tinted contact lenses. He also looked a bit skinnier but the biggest change was his expression. He didn't look as worried as she remembered. Bill looked much more relaxed and Tina wanted to know everything about it.

"Long time no see, hun~" - Tina said with a playful tone. She smiled widely as Bill's reaction was to simply drop the cup he had in his hand. Hot coffee spilled on the floor and Bill's leg, making him return to reality. Tina couldn't avoid giggling, even after all these years, Bill was still a dork.

"T-Tina is that you?" - the fox asked, still not fully believing what his eyes showed him. Tina smiled at the camera as Bill expression went from surprise to joy

"OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YOU'RE BACK FROM COLLEGE!" - he screamed. He sprinted to Skip and quickly took the phone out of his hands. Tina giggled as she had never seen Bill being this energetic.

"It seems you're not as moody as you used to be, Billy" - Tina teased him over the phone. The fox blushed a bit, as the memory of his older self made him feel embarassed. All of that edgy self was left behind, on the road, years ago. But of course, Tina didn't know that.

"You could say I've matured a bit. Also, I love what you did to your hair"- Bill answered. It was time for Tina to blush as she had clearly styled her hair similar to Bill's old style. In her defense it wasn't on purpose. As time passed in college, she just tought she needed to change her looks. So when she cut her hair and noticed it looked like Bill used to style ot, she could think it was a subconscious thing.

"Yeah, I thougt I needed something from home... and it goes great with your hoodie!" - she answered, showing to the cam the old hoodie Bill had gave her

Bill smiled with joy. - "I can't believe you still have it! It has been ages! And I would have tought it was too old..."

"Well, yeah I don't use it as a going out clothes anymore, but it's really comfy over a pajama. Too bad it doesn't smell like you anymore" - the rabbit commented, throwing the last line with a little wink. She screamed in her mind. She had planned to flirt with him the momment she saw him again and to think it went so smooth made her fear herself. Bill, instead, blushed as hid mind started to race, trying to think what kind of smell did he have.

"G-guys, I can go away for a minute if you want" - Skip interrupted. He had always been a uncomfortable with couples stuff as he didn't want get in the middle of some else's... affairs

"Oh, my bad, I forgot to introduce him" - Bill started saying, while going to the Fennec and grabbing him by the shoulder with a hand. -"He's Skip, the nicest dude ever! He has given me a ton of help in these times"

"Oh, Bill, really you don't have to.."- the blushing fennec said as Bill softly punched him - "Haha, come on dude, don't be so humble" - the fox simply said.

"Hahaha he's adorable! I think you already know it, but I'm Tina, by the way. I hope I'll meet you soon!" - the rabbit said giggling

"So you'll be coming here?" - the fox asked with surprise. "Let me search the adress" - he added while touching the phone's screen a couple of times. A couple of screens popped up and in less than a second a message got sent to Tina's computer. It contained his contact data and GPS location

"Northern Woods? Dude that's like a 5 days trip on the train! And you went all the way in bike?" - a surprised Tina asked. It was a total feat. And Bill didn't go directly there, but had his stops and settled in some small towns in the road. - "By the way, that's that place ruled by those two green hedgies, right?" - Tina added. She didn't know all the details, but she remembered being friends with a blonde cat from there. She mentioned the town was really calm and peaceful, specially in the winter

"Yeah, Galaxy is the nicest person ever, even if she's a little rough sometimes" - Skipp answered.

"Oh, before you leave, let me tell you something. I know I should have been there when you came back... but I... I really needed this. To know the world, to travel... but I want you to know that our promise is still standing. And that I still love you, after all these years" - Bill said with a serious but soft voice. He was right, she should have been there for Tina. But the journey he had taken, taught him a lot. And it showed in this calmer, nicer self. Tina looked at the screen, a smile of joy grew in her face, and with shining teary eyes, nodded

"I love you a lot, dude!" - she said happily. - "I'll do my best and I will be there as fast as possible"- . Bill nodded. After saying their farewells, Frankie took the mouse - "Wait, is that Fr-?!" - Bill asked but the call ended before he finished sayin that sentence.

...

"You know, you shouldn't have hidden during the call" - Tina commented as she prepared a bag with the most important things for the trip. It was just only the most important as she planned to go as quickly as posible, and later have Frankie bring the rest of her stuff.

"I don't know if Bill had forgiven me yet, so I didn't want to ruin your moment"- Frankie answered mechanically. He sounded a little sad and Tina worried about it. He was her other best friend and also Bill's childhood friend and he didn't deserve to be left out of this, even if he did mess up in the past.

"Welp... pack up. You'll be taking my other stuff and I know Bill won't mind habing you sleep in his couch"- the rabbit said with an imperative tone. He was coming, some days after her but definitely was going and there and fixing his problem.

"Are you serious? This can go so wrong..." he replied. Tina looked at him again with a "Don't complain" face. He finally admited he had no way out of it and decided to pack his stuff.

"You still have my Extreme Gear, right?" - wondered Tina as she unpacked some appropiate clothes

...

The night gave away to the morning and the cool morning breeze blew in the streets. As the sun's light rised up, a redhead rabbit, dressed in sportwear and carrying a bag in her back and a board in her hands, looked at the horizon. She adjusted her googles and turned on the board. It hovered in the ground making a soft noise. After a final check to her bag, the rabbit left town, riding her hover board at top speed.


	7. 7 - Changes: Part 1

_The previous chapter has been a wild ride and it's, for the record, my longest chapter written until now. And to be honest, I did like that, even when it meant more time to write and a lil' more of an effort in making the plot. I do have doubts and I'm happily receiving any kind of feedback! Anyways, thanks a lot for taking the time of reading this_

 _In the previous chapter Tina and Frankie waited for Bill to call while the rabbit remembered a true to heart talk. Eventually Skip contacted 'em and our lovely couple managed to talk after 5 years of not knowing anything about each other. And now, Tina is riding her extreme gear at top speed determined to see her significant other once again..._

 **Chapter 7 - Changes: Part 1**

The light of the sun bathed the snowy fields as the winter's freezing breeze kept the weather cold. The trees around were frozen with leafs covered in heavy snow, waiting for a clumsy creature to crash into them and get trapped under the heavy snow. It was a really beautiful landscape, but the creature in the field wasn't in the mood to admire it. It was a brown fox with brown hair and caramel eyes... and those did look quite pensative...

The last days had been tough on her... her childhood closest friend finally found love with such an adorable girl! The fox felt so happy for her friend, but she also felt sad... as she had loved that friend and had never been brave enough to actually confess... until two days ago, when she couldn't take it anymore and just exploded on him. He didn't have any bad reactions, and even supported her, by saying she would always be his closest friend. And now she was sitting in the snowy field, trying to order her toughts and answer the questions that had been appearing in her mind. Why things ended up like this? Would could have happened if she confessed before? Would she be dating him now? or maybe she would have been rejected? The questions buzzed in her mind like a disturbed swarm of bees... a noisy swarm of bees that wouldn't let her be in peace.

Not too far away, another fox walked in the fields, trying to relax a bit and calm his mind. This one was male and had messy black hair and green eyes, althought you could notice he was using tinted contacts. His life had also been shaken, as the girl he loved had returned from her studies and would be joining him at his place. The idea of having to share his space and the fear of not being able to fulfill his lover's expectatives made him nervous and the only way he thought of coping with it was anxiously walking, trying to tire out his body. It didn't take much time before he noticed the other fox and intrigued by the girl's out of habit behaviour, he decided to approach her and check if she was fine.

"Ugh, what do you want?" - Jana asked with an annoyed tone. She and Bill didn't have the best relationship, but even if she considered him a "friend"... she was not in the mood to endure his jokes.

"Hey, you're not the only one with a bad time" - he simply answered, sitting close to her. - "What happened to you?"

"I'm not fine at all. And to be honest I don't know if I wanna talk it, and you're not my most trusted person so..." - she started before getting interrupted by Bill.

"Okay, okay I get it. But you know, being here all alone and cursing under your breath won't help you at all"- the male fox answered. Even if they weren't really friends, he did get a lil' worried.

Jana looked at him, still doubting if she should open up or not. The black haired fox, expecting for an answer, lied down in the snowy grass, and looked at the cloudy blue sky. Jana remained in silence, still undecided.

"You know... I've been waiting years for this... and now that my best friend is coming here, I just... don't know. Is that right? Am I ready for this? What if she doesn't like me? What if she expected me to be different?" - Bill tought in loud voice. Jana turned around mildly interested in Bill's comment.

"So that's why Skip was so excited when I met him last time..." she mumbled to herself before wetting her eyes once again due to naming her problematic

"So it's because of him, huh..." - Bill asked. - "It must be hard, to love someone who doesn't love you back. And the worst of all is that he's so nice you even feel bad for being jealous"

"Yeah, it's just that... I don't know why this ended up this way. I mean it's because I'm not femenine enough? or Cute enough? Why did Miss Perfection have to appear?!" - she ended up with a raised voice. Bill looked at her with a sad look, he then sat in the grass and looked into her eyes.

"You know, it's not their fault if they fell in love. Skip is an awesome dude and your best friend too! I know it hurts but you gotta let that be. And also Sonar isn't perfect, she's just a girl, just like you" - he calmly said. He knew she hurted a lot. He knew the feeling of "deserving" love and see it been taken in the fron of his face. But Jana's was even worse, because she got to see Skip being happy with Sonar and must be like twisting the knife after stabbing her heart.

"Yeah I know. He even showed me he kept a photo of me and Kouyou in his wallet. And told me how important I was for him and how much he loved me... as a friend" - she answered with a low voice. It was easy to notice this was hard for her, even when she really wasn't good expressing her feelings. Even now, she tried to remain though although she knew it was a matter of time before breaking in tears. - "And that's really nice of him, I mean I really appreciate it... but I just can't help thinking it was like a slap in my face. And I think he did notice it, because he ran away the second he finished talking..."

"So what are you gonna do? Overcoming an unrequited love is not something easy" - Bill commented. His sight was now in the skies, and his voice sounded calm, like trying to sound comforting.

"Finding someone else I guess. Trying stuff I have always wanted to try but never got the guts for" - the brown fox answered, also looking at the sky. -Or at least that was Kouyou told me on the phone" - she quickly added. Her eyes still pointed to the blue sky, watching the clouds and following their shapes. There was something she had always wanted to try, but never really thought seriously about it until this point. Multiple questions swarmed her mind before she finally sighed and let the tought out:

"Is it okay if I like girls?"

...

The moon was high in the sky, bathing the streets of the town with it's light. The cold wind of winter breezed through as a blue wolf walked in the snowy road. Adjusting his scarf, Kouyou kept walking enduring the cold until he stopped by an old looking house.

The wolf smiled a bit and knocked on the door. A couple of minutes later, a green eyed blonde cat opened the door. She weared a blue sweater and purple skirt and had a striped scarf around her neck.

"Kouyou, I was worrying you weren't coming tonight!" - she quickly commented, as the wolf entered the house.

"Really Annie? I wouldn't miss our movie night, specially after all this time" - the wolf answered with a tone of joy that wasn't usual in him, after all, not everyday you hang out with a friend you haven't seen in years. The blonde cat smiled as she has been waiting to see her friend again for a long time too.

"I highly doubt there's anyone else in this town that can drink coffee with you and properly talk about literature" - the cat commented with joy, before going to the kitchen and starting her coffee machine. Not much later the smell of coffee flooded the house as the blonde cat finished the details. She loved coffee as much as Kouyou did, but that wasn't the only common taste they shared. She also loved reading and collecting books and it showed in her personal library that kept growing every week.

"I love what you did to this place, it has barely been a week and it already changed a lot" - Kouyou commented, examinating the living room. The walls were almost entirely covered with wooden shelves where different collections of novels, music cd's and movies were stacked, all organized by genre and alphabetical order. The only places without a shelf were the center of a wall -where a projector's screen was placed instead- and a small corner that housed a small chimney. The chimney currently held some embers, residues of a larger fire that had kept the house warm.

"Thanks, it was really nice of you to rent me your old house for such a low price " - Annie said with a smile. She held him as one of his closest friends and of the few people she felt comfortable with. Normally, people deemed Annie as a nerd or a "boring" intellectual and her own shyness prevented her from making new friendships. But Kouyou was different, he also enjoyed the same "nerdy" stuff and actually was a nice person under his "Meh, I'm not interested" facade.

"No need to thank me, and I gotta admit is nice knowing you'll be staying here for a while. And I totally didn't miss you when you were at college" - the wolf suspiciously denied. Annie giggled before giving him a cup of coffee

"Well, college was entertaining. I met really interesting people, and there was a rabbit that was so nice with me. We quickly became best friends. Too bad she was kinda taken..." the cat commented with a slight tone of defeat. In other circunstances she wouldn't have mentioned having a crush in another girl but she felt comfortable enough to talk it out with Kouyou

"Well, I'm not dating anyone either, so you aren't the only lonely here" - Kouyou commented. Kouyou didn't really care unlike Annie who sounded a little bad about it. "Don't worry, I know you will find a lovely girl to do girl stuff someday" - he added. The cat smiled slightly. She knew this was the closest thing to cheering up that Kouyou would do. "What a lovely asshole" she tought as she felt happy for having him as a friend.

...

Not too far away, a couple of fennecs were cuddling in a bed. One of them had red fur with spiky hair, while the other was green with soft hair. The red one hugged the green with his arms while the green rested her head in his chest

"These last days have been great, Skippy" - the green fennec said, turning around to see her lover. "Skippy" blushed as he found his nickname to be overly cute.

"Well, I'm dating the beautiful Sonar, of course I'm going to do my best to impress her" - Skip responded with a tone of confidence. Confidence that had no real sustent as this was his first time dating someone and was secretly terrified of fucking up. Of course, he would try to hide that fact but he knew that sooner or later she would discover it.

"Are you flirting with me, Skippy?" - she asked playfully as Skip's blush intensified. - "W-well..." - he replied as Sonar laughed. He looked at his girlfriend, and contemplated her beautiful pink eyes. He felt so lucky, to be able to hug her like this, to feel the warmth in her skin. He loved her so much...

And she felt the same, he was so adorable, so cute and nice. And she stil couldn't believe how things went so well, so... magical, like in those romantic movies. And then she raised her head and approached to her boyfriend's face.

"I love you so much!" - she said with a confident smile and an intense blush in her face. Skip's heart went crazy. She was so special, so lovely. He loved her with all his heart and wanted to make her the happiest girl in the world

"I love you a lot, with my entire heart" - he replied. Sonar looked at him in the eyes and kissed him.

...

Somewhere else, a redhead rabbit raced through the empty fields. She looked tired with baggy eyes and messed up hair but the biggest give away was her expression of both anxiety and tiredness. She had been riding her extreme gear non-stop since the morning and the sun had set long hours ago.

"Just a couple of minutes more, there should be an inn a couple of kilometers ahead" she tought in loud voice. And she kept going, moving at full speed through the almost empty snowy route...


	8. 8 - Changes: Part 2

_And we finally hit the 8th Chapter! I'm really really glad for being able to write this! As always feedback is welcome!_

 _And_ _I wanna give a huge thanks to Stephen ( docstephen in tumblr) for allowing me to use Jana, Kouyou, Annie and Skip! (Also check his art, he's awesome)_

 _So... last chapter we got a glimpse on the gang's life_ _with Jana figuring out if she's into girls, Kouyou hanging around an old friend and Skip having a romantic moment with his new girlfriend_. _And now it's time to see how this keeps up!_

 **Chapter 8 - Changes: Part 2**

The moon shined bright in the sky, as the cold wind breezed through the route. Not too far away there was a group of small cabins. They were all conected by a small stone road and had letters with numbers in their doors. Several of them had bright lights on, showing the black sillouettes of their occupants. These cabins all had a car parked in front of them, except by one that instead had a hover board charging up. Like the other cabins, it was made in wooden and consisted in three rooms: a bedroom, a bathroom and one big room that served as both living room and dining room. And this cabin had a thick trail of steam coming from the bathroom's small window.

Steam occupied every inch of the bathroom as a slightly pudgy cream furred redhead rabbit entered the room. Covered with only a thick green towel, she approached the bathtub and measured the water's temperature. She let out a sigh before starting a playlist in her phone, and as a calm romantic song played, she throwed the towel aside and summerged in the water. She sighed again and closed her eyes, finally resting after 4 days of almost non-stop travelling.

"This is so fucking tiring. You better receive me with a freaking ton of Lemon Soda, asshole!"- she tought in loud voice and inmediately chuckled. Of course Bill would wait for her with a ton of Lemon Soda. And fried chips, with a bowl of mayonaise to dip'em in... damn, she was starting to feel hungry just thinking about it.

She yawned as the warmth of the hot water made her relax, washing away the dust and sweat of her journey. - "And Bill did all of this in a bike, huh? No wonder he disappeared for 5 years" - she tought aloud before letting herself sink into the water, making sure the water washed her skin properly.

"Five years..." she tought. The time had passed really fast... she could still remember her first day in College. She had felt so nervous, so anxious... she remembered how a voice in her mind, her voice, was begging for everything go well. To avoid getting made fun, screaming for a friendly voice to calm her feelings just like Bill always did by patting her head and hugging her body. Too bad he wasn't there for her anymore.

And it felt so strange, she just happened to fit in so well afterwards... even when Bill wasn't there. "Even after he completely dissapeared from your life" her own voice resonated in her head. After all he didn't send a message. Nor a letter... and the ones she sent were never answered. A tear formed in her eye as she remembered those times she felt alone. Those nights when she missed his hugs, those moments when she needed his voice cheering her up... but he wasn't there for her, no...

...

"Tina, this is the first time I've seen you in one of these parties and I have a serious concern about your handling of alcohol" - a worried blonde cat commented to a blushing Tina. And she was right. Tina never participated in college parties, she had never cared about them in the four years she had been in campus, but still, there she were, standing against a wall with her third shot of lemon vodka in her hands

"I'm doing fine blondie, I just wanted to know how this felt before not being able to try it" - the redhead rabbit answered with a condescending tone before sipping once again from her drink. - "I don't expect a lil' girl like you would understand tho"

"I'll pretend you didn't try to insult me. I'm your best friend and I just don't want you to do anything that you might regret later" - the cat answered trying to ignore her friend's attitude.

"...sorry" - answered the rabbit with a suddenly low tone. She let herself slide slowly against the wall and placed ger head on her knees. - "I-I'm not fine, okay?" - she said with a weak voice, the voice of a soon to cry girl. - "I don't need you hugging me or cheering me up... I just need someone that hears me"

The wind blew threw the campus' field, cooling down the area and the people in it. A sobbing -and probably drunk- Tina was sitting in the grass against a wall while Annie covered with her jacket. The blonde cat was worried about her friend, specially because she had never seen her like that. Tina was the kind of person that always seemed to do great. She was always smiling, radiating positivity and never allowed herself to show sadness or anger, maybe just a lil' of disgust... but the girl sitting in the grass was crying, letting out all the negativity she had acumulated in these years.

-"Have I ever told you about him?" - the redhead rabbit asked as she browsed her phone's photo gallery. Annie didn't catch what her friend meant by that, until the rabbit showed her a picture. It portrayed a younger happier Tina, being piggybacked by a blushing fox. The couple looked happy and Annie instantly realized that was an important day. -"It was our first date. And the last time we went out together"- Tina explained

\- "What happened after that?" - the cat asked with curiosity. Judging by her friends expressions, whatever happened hurt her badly. Specially because the Tina in the pic looked genuinely cheerful and happy, while the Tina she knew had moments where she could notice she wasn't being honest. It didn't look like she was suffering or always sad... but she never looked truly happy neither.

\- "Well, I came here. That was like 4 years ago... and he never called, nor sent a letter nor anything... but welp, that's why I get for letting my feelings get the best of me. It looks like a fucking joke, you know? I had always had trouble speaking up about my feelings, but that idiot made me express what I felt back then. And I was so happy, so glad! But no, life had shown me, my feelings are like bad jokes that only make things harder..."- the rabbit said finally letting out the heavy emotional baggage she had been carrying silently for years. And now that she let that out... she could only break down, crying...

The cat felt awful. They had been friends for months and they had trusted each other a lot of times. But this was a first. Seeing the friend she loved as much as she would love a sister hurting like this felt awful. She quickly hugged the rabbit but she knew this wasn't going to cheer her up.

-"Tina, sis, don't say stuff like that. Your feelings aren't jokes nor a weakness. You're an awesome and strong girl. But even if you're strong, you don't have to carry that burden alone. You have friends to trust. You can trust in me now, and I promise, I'll never stop caring about you"-. Tina didn't stop crying, but she did hug back Annie, thightly as a way to show her gratitude.

-"T-thanks pal"- she muttered, before failing to stand up as the alcohol she had been drinking made effect.

...

Just thinking about that night made her cringe. Not only was she drunk and crying over feelings, but after that she woke up in her friend's bed, hugged by her. But now, she realized there was something she had been really wanting to do, something that could not wait. She quickly took her phone and texted Bill a message:

 _"W h y ?"_


	9. 9 - Changes: Part 3

**Changes: Part 3**

The morning finally arrived but the sunlight didn't enter through the windows in Bill's house, as the sky was dark, completely covered by clouds. And it could mean only one thing: a storm was coming.

Normally, Bill would wake up smiling, he loved storms and couldn't help feeling joy whenever one was in the making. But not today. Not after that message:

"W h y?"

Bill knew it well. Tina wanted an explanation, a reason for his absence in this years, the reason he had for leaving everything behind, as the coward he knew he was. Because that was the truth. He was scared, he felt lonely. The only other friend he had betrayed him and that town didn't feel like his home anymore. And he left, even when he knew it meant breaking the promise he made to his Best Friend, to the person he loved.

The fox tried to sit in his bed, but the void he was feeling in his heart was too much. So he screamed, he screamed in his bed, expecting that would make him feel less like a piece of shit. But it didn't. So he looked at the ceiling and cursed about his life being hell.

Bill's life had always been a little rough. His parents loved him and supported him, but the love of the family couldn't shield him from being bullied at school. He had a hard time making friends, as no one wanted to be the friend of the school's punching bag. Except for Tina and Frankie.

...

It was another autumn morning, with brown leaves slowly falling from the trees into the ground. A young Bill, around 5 years old, was sitting under a tree watching in silence as the a group of ants carried little bits of old leaves into their nests. However his peace was broken by the noises of a group of children fighting

\- "You can't play with us, you are a girl!- a young wolf shouted

\- "Go play with dolls, and give us your sword toy" - the other boy, a dog, demanded.

The rabbit girl looked at them and refused. Her dad had bought her a pirate sword and she wanted to play as the pirate princess even if those dumb boys wouldn't let her. The boys then gave each other a look and moved closer. The dog tried to grab the toy while the wolf went to her and raised his punch, intending to hit her. But a fourth child, a fox, came out of nowhere and tackled him

"Leave her alone!" - he said. But the boys weren't scared, after all, they recognised him as that lonely kid no one wanted to play with, the one that preferred to be alone watching the insects instead of playing. And they knew he was't going to be a though oponent. So the boys punched and kicked the fox, but he didn't care. He headbutted the dog, however the hit left him a bit dizzy. The wolf kicked him, making the fox fall to the ground. This made the rabbit angry, and she kicked the wolf in the back. The fight continued until the rabbit kicked one of the boys between his legs, making him and his friend leave the place.

The fox, who had a purple eye and bruises all over his body, looked at her with a wide smile - "Those bad boys are gone now!" - he said with a tone of triumph. The rabbit nodded but didn't look so happy

\- "I wanted to play, not to fight"- she said with a pouty face. - "Now who's gonna play with me?"-

\- "But I'm the one that got hurt, not you"- the fox complained. - "I would play with you but mom told me not to play with strangers"- he added with sadness.

The rabbit eyes opened widely as she hadn't thought about that. Then she smiled and presented herself as Tina. The fox smiled and said his name was Bill. After that, the kids played the rest of the day and the next ones as they quickly became close friends

...

Time passed and the morning was replaced by the afternoon. A still moody Bill was now sitting in the snowy field, not far away from the point he talked to Janna days ago. The clouds covered the sky, a sign of the soon to come snow storm. Bill sighed, not caring if the storm catched him unprepared. He broke a promise to his best friend, to the person he loved and he deserved punishment...

-"What are you doing here, dude?! The storm is going to freeze you if you don't have a proper jacket!" - a female voice worried. Bill turned around and quickly recognized the girl. It was Fiera, a blonde shibe dog and the most positive person he had ever met. And he knew, by her expression, that she was worrying about him, even if they hadn't talked much in the past.

\- "What is happening to you? You look dead inside"- she asked worried about her neighbour. Bill didn't answer and instead turned his gaze into the cloudy sky again. -"Duuude..."- she insisted, poking his cheeks until the fox snapped into reality

\- "Sorry I'm... I'm fine... just a lil' thoughtful but"- he said before getting interrumpted

-"No you're not. Your mind isn't there and you look like your heart has been crushed. What happened?" - she asked once again. Bill looked her and their eyes met. He still didn't feel like telling her about it. The shibe looked at him, waiting for him to open up before deciding to sit by side his side

-"I'm staying here until you talk" - she said with a convincing voice. Bill looked at her with doubt, as he couldn't believe she was willing to wait in the open field specially with a storm coming. The fox sighed as he finally opened up

...

"Are you an idiot or what?" - asked the shibe. Her eyes looked worried and she expressed herself in the best way she could. Bill looked at her and sighed. Of course she didn't understand

"Look. I just love her too much. She needs someone who is as good as her. A handsome wealthy boy from college, for example. Not a loser like me" - he explained, trying not look at the ground. Of course he knew it was a stupid motive. But it was the logic he tought years ago. She looked at his eyes, with a sharp gaze, trying to dissect his mind with her eyes.

"So you pushed her away so she could find someone "better"? That's not how it works, dude! What are you gonna do now?" - the shibe insisted. - "And you are not a bad person. You actually seem like a cool guy, even if sometimes you act like an idiot" - she quickly added.

-"You are not getting it! She's a really smart and talented person. I'm not good enough"- he replied trying not to cry. The shibe looked worried but the fox spoke again before she could answer. -"In college she would be able to find someone who is good enough for her. A prodige child who will be really successful. A dude with a promising career! And maybe good looking too..."-. The fox looked tired. Voicing out all the toughts he had been burying in the depth of his mind hurted a lot but being able to speak his mind also felt releasing. Like a weight being lifted from his chest.

And then he felt something... soft. The shibe was patting his head, trying to ease his mind. -"Look. I don't know you that well but I do know you're a talented person. Remember that surprise party Skip made for you some months ago? Well, people still talk about the cake you baked! Even if that cat ate one third of it..."- she said with a soft voice. The fox couldn't help chuckling as he could notice the small resentment in Fiera's last line

-"You really should do another party. Hang out with friends and, of course, bake another delicious cake"- Fiera recommended. Bill looked at her before doing a snarky comment -"You are just hungry, right?"- The shibe made a nervous expression -"I-I'm not gonna admit or deby anything!"-

Bill laughed. He couldn't believe it, but Fiera managed to make him feel a little better about himself. He had always loved cooking and being good at it, but he had bever thought about it as a talent or even something he could work with. Something that could be the starting point of a career. The fox smiled wide before realizing that something was wrong. The weather. It was really cold!

"Oh shit the storm!" - the fox shouted as he looked up. Black clouds covered the skies and were so dense the sunlight barely managed to cross 'em

"Looks like the storm got here faster than I thought" - Fiera thought aloud, with a little tone of... joy? Bill looked at her incredously for the tenth time that day

"You also like stormy days?" - the fox asked, feeling the connection as he also enjoyed that kind of weather. Even when he knew it wasn't safe to stay out during it. The shibe smiled. She knew it was a little dumb and childish but the look of the storm made her heart pound, it was going to be fun day.

"Come to my place, it is closer than yours and you shouldn't be wandering around without a jacket!" - the shibe offered. Bill didn't answer. Should he go? She was right about wandering without a jacket, but still... He didn't if he should hang around, specially while so much to think about.

"Come on dude, we're gonna freeze here!" - Fiera insisted. Snowflakes began to fall down as the air became colder. The fox was still doubting what to do, but the weather wasn't going to wait for his decision. He just didn't think it was appropiate at the time. After all he wasn't really a joyful, "fun" guy and even if he had moved on from his silent and shy past-self, he still felt anxious whenever he had to hang around with people. However he knew Fiera was really cool and that hanging out with her would be much better than spending the whole storm alone at his place. The wind started to blow faster but not as fast as the fox's mind.

The shibe looked a bit disapointed but still managed to talk with a cheerful voice: -"It's okay dude, I know it would be better if you go to your place"-. And she turned around, facing the direction she came from.

-"No wait! I'll go with you!"- the fox shouted, before sprinting until he catched up. The shibe chuckled as the fox complained about running in the cold. Not much later, their silouettes faded in the snowy field as the storm finally arrived in town

...

The snow fell heavily in town, making really hard to see what happened in the streets. Every house had their doors and windows tightly closed trying to contain every the heat. Inside an old looking house, a blonde cat and blue wolf were laying in the floor, surrounded by a pile of books.

The smell of old books and a not-so-known brand of coffe flooded the place. The wolf had a small proud smile as the acknowledged his "victory"

-"I shall admit, your coffee is quite delicious"- Annie said with a smile. Kouyou's coffee was, surprisingly good. It wasn't too bitter nor too sweet and it did wonders in this cold weather.

-"Inviting me to spend sometime together during the storm was a smart decission"- smugly said the wolf. Annie chuckled, as she knew him well enough to know he would never admit he liked hanging with her

-"I will be frank with you, Kouyou..."- the cat replied. Lately she had been feeling... a little down. And the worst part is that she shouldn't feel like this as her life had progresses a lot in the last years. First of all, she graduated from highschool with honours and quickly applied to college. Later on she bought her own house. It might not be the most pretty house in the block, nor the newest. But it was her place in the world. And she filled it with books, classy furniture and dim lights, making the place look old and slightly mysterious. But still, she felt something was missing. It wasn't really a big problem, just a small annoyance.

-"...I think I should date someone"- Annie finally said. Kouyou looked at her surprised.

-"I'm afraid I have to turn your proposal down, Annie as I'm not attracted to girls. Nor boys. Or anything if I actually think about it"- the wolf tried to joke. It was a little hard for himself to cheer people up -that was Skip's skill- but he tought that cracking that joke would make her slightly better. Thankfully the cat chuckled

-"I really can't picture you courting anyone, Kouyou. And you do know about my preferences"- the cat replied. Kouyou's eyes quickly shined as an idea went through his mind. "I think I might know someone appropiate" he thought as the cat unaware of her friend's machinations drank another cup of coffee.

...

 _Welp, Chapter 9! I'm actually not really sure about the fic's execution up to this point, but I'm glad I managed to write this much!_

 _I really hope you guys liked it and be ready 'cuz the Chapter 10 is going to be really special!_

 _I wanna thank DocStephen for beta-reading and allowing me to include Skip, Kouyou, Annie and his other oc's here. As well as FieraTheProud for enduring me being bitch over not being able to write for weeks -as well for letting me use her oc-_


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